ladies and gentlemen, please welcome my colleague paul larkin, who will no moderate the panel. he is a senior legal research fellow in the center for legal and judicial studies. paul works on criminal justice policy, drug policy, and regulatory policy. before joining heritage, paul held various positions with the federal government in washington, d.c., at the u.s. department of justice paul served as an assistant to the solicitor general and argued 27 cases before the u.s. supreme court. he was also an attorney in the committal division organized crime and racketeering section. paul received his law degree from stanford law school, where member of the stanford law review. he clerked for a member of the u.s. court of appeals and received his masters in public policy from george washington university. he also holds a bachelors of arts degree in philosophy from washington university in virginia, where of course he graduated summa kolodny with honors in philosophy. ladies and settlement, my colleague, paul larkin. you for that thank wonderful introduction, and thank you to our audie